Currently sitting in fifth position, Gerringong secured first-innings points last Saturday with a dominant performance against Oak Flats and Saturday gives the team a chance to leapfrog Shellharbour in the competition standings.

For captain Manning Berry, an outright victory is crucial to the side’s finals chances.

“Hopefully we’ll bat to get another 100 or so runs,” Berry said. “Then we’ll see how we go with the ball, hopefully we can knock them over again.

“The outright’s pretty crucial for us. It should put us into fourth place, so it’s crucial we get that outright win.”

Gerringong will resume at 5-183 after James Hayman tore through the Rats batting lineup, claiming figures of 7-39. Hayman and Hall have been on a tear since the Christmas break, taking 28 wickets between them in just four games. 

“Lachlan and James have been on fire the last few weeks. It’s just up to our batsmen to pull our finger out now. We’ve shown we’ve got what it takes with the ball, we need to show a bit more determination with the bat.”

Aiding the Gerringong finals hunt is The Rail. The Razorbacks reached 246 last week, before reducing Shellharbour to 3-9. 

Finally, Lake Illawarra will attempt to keep their unbeaten season alive against Kookas. Scott Peachman (119) led Kookas to 8-290 and the defending champions will be out for early wickets when Lake Illawarra commences their run chase.

Saturday February 17 1pm: GERRINGONG v OAK FLATS at Gerry Emery Reserve, THE RAIL v SHELLHARBOUR at Croome Cricket Oval, LAKE ILLAWARRA v KOOKAS at Howard Fowles Oval